In re: Marriage of Schleich

In 2009 Husband filed a divorce petition. The couple had a house on a ranch in Lemon Cove, purchased by Husband before the marriage. Wife maintained the ranch. Husband, who worked in the Silicon Valley, flew to the ranch on weekends. They had another ranch with a cottage in Exeter, 15 horses, nine vehicles, six motorcycles, two Airstream travel trailers, an airplane, a boat, three horse trailers, and three tractors. In 2010 the court ordered Husband to pay Wife $7,600 in monthly support retroactive to March 2009, and $6,800 in monthly support for 2010, plus $30,000 in need-based attorney’s fees, commenting that Husband had “shown an unwillingness or inability to completely self-report income.” The court of appeal affirmed. In 2013 the court ordered Husband to pay Wife $826,789 ($25,496 in support arrears, $245,273 to divide the community estate, and $556,020 to remedy Husband’s fiduciary breaches) and later awarded Wife $318,510 in attorney’s fees and $5,737.50 in costs, offset by $15,000 for attorney’s fees incurred by Husband associated with Wife’s breaches of fiduciary duty. Wife was awarded $412,485 in need-based attorney’s fees, offset by $105,000 for fees already paid. The court of appeal reversed in part; the trial court erred by making duplicative awards of community assets and by finding breaches of fiduciary duty for dissolution disclosure violations involving Husband’s separate property and community income earned and spent before separation. View "In re: Marriage of Schleich" on Justia Law